Wednesday, December 26, 2012

DnD Next

You may be wondering why I don't talk much about D&D next, given that I run two D&D games and play in a third. I have not much to say because I don't have time for the play test. I haven't had the motivation to wrangle players for another session outside of the sessions I currently run. I prefer to wait on games until they're finished. It manages my expectations better than if I'm involved in the process. This extends to all my entertainment hobbies. I don't enjoy movie first looks and I don't play in video game betas. The other reason I'm not interested much in D&D next is it appears to not be the edition that I either need or want. But you protest "LooneyDM, D&D next is to be for everyone!". I disagree. I currently enjoy both 3rd and 4th editions of D&D (Scandalous, I know). What I need from a new edition of D&D is one of two things. The first is a better balanced version of the 3.5 rules. D&D next is not promising to do that. In fact they seem to be staying away from any discussion of balance. I know of only one system out there that tries to fill that need. That's Legend from Rule of Cool. (No, Pathfinder does not count as they haven't fixed the big problems). The other desire I have is for a system that follows in the steps of 4th edition in cutting new ground for D&D mechanics. D&D next wants to do the opposite and bring back all the old mechanics to appeal to everyone. So in the end I am taking a wait and see approach on D&D next. I'll see it when it is done.